Input jacks on the Crystalio II include an impressive four HDMIs, two SDI inputs, a USB, an Ethernet port, four composite video inputs, four BNC component inputs, one five-BNC PC input, and two S-Video inputs. In other words, as well as allowing Projectiondesign to give you a higher-spec video processing engine than would have been possible if the necessary circuitry had been included in the projector, the extra processing box also enables you to connect up way more sources than usual.

Turning away from the Crystalio box and back to the projector for further explanations of the projector’s steep price, we find a huge lens built into the projector’s front that immediately suggests the presence of a very high-grade optical system.

The thing about the Action! Model Three that really explains its cost, though, is Projectiondesign’s unique DuArch technology. This finds the projector being driven simultaneously by two individually controllable lamps and two separate 7-segment DLP colour wheels, delivering a truly impressive 8,000 hours of lamp life (if you run the projector in a provided ‘eco relay’ mode) and what Projectiondesign claims are profound improvements in contrast and brightness over what any single lamp projector could offer.

As a result of the DuArch system, in fact, we find the Action! Model Three promising a truly phenomenal claimed brightness output of 2,500 ANSI Lumens, and a native contrast ratio of 7,500:1.

If you’re thinking this contrast ratio doesn’t actually sound very high, we must stress that the key word is ‘native’. In other words, unlike practically all LCD models and Sony’s SXRD models, the Action! Model Three does not need to dim its brightness in order to achieve its deepest black levels. This should mean that dark scenes should look both more stable and more dynamic (in terms of the ‘gap’ between a picture’s brightest and darkest elements) than is possible on projectors that use dynamic irises to limit the image’s brightness output during dark scenes.

Before we get too carried away by this native contrast, it’s worth adding that JVC’s outstanding D-ILA projectors, the HD1 and HD100, deliver native contrast ratios of 20,000:1 and 30,000:1 respectively despite only costing £2,900 and £5000. But they certainly can’t hold a candle to the Action! Model Three’s maximum brightness.

Another key ‘high end’ touch is the fact that this projector can be bought with any of six different lens options, ranging from an ultra-wide angle 0.75:1 affair for near projection use, to a ‘super tele-zoom’ 3.7-6.5:1 option.